About Transformation Garden

Transformation Garden is a worldwide Christian ministry dedicated to encouraging and empowering women in their daily walk with Jesus. The devotional thoughts presented in Transformation Garden have their foundation in the Bible – the inspired word of God.

Get iBelieve.com

Transformation Garden - July 28, 2015

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ He said.”

John 11: 38-39

N.I.V.

On Him I Lean

“When gathering clouds around I view

And days are dark and friends are few,

On Him I lean, Who not in vain

Experienced every human pain;

He sees my wants, allays my fears,

And counts and treasures up my tears…

If wounded love my bosom swell,

Deceived by those I prized to well;

He shall His pitying aid bestow,

Who felt on earth severer woe;

At once betrayed, denied, or fled

By those who shared His daily bread.

If vexing thoughts within me rise,

And, sore dismayed, my spirit dies;

Still He, Who once vouchsafed to bear

The sickening anguish of despair,

Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,

The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.

When sorrowing over some stone I bend,

Which covers what was once a friend,

And from his voice, his hand, his smile,

Divides me for a little while;

Thou, Saviour markest the tears I shed.

And O! when I have safely past

Through every conflict at last;

Still, still unchanging, watch beside

My painful bed, where Thou dost reside

Then point to realms of cloudless day,

And wipe the latest tear away!”

Robert Grant

1779-1838

Today’s Study Text:

“Now Jesus, again sighing repeated and deeply disquieted, approached the tomb. It was a cave (a hole in the rock), and a boulder lay against the entrance to close it. Jesus said

‘Take away the stone.’”

John 11: 38-39

Amplified Bible

Exploration:

“The Fragrance of His Presence” Part 34

“His Part And Our Part”

“The perfume of holiness travels even against the wind.”

Indian Proverb

What boulder or impediment in my life blocks the presence of my Heavenly Life-Giver?

What can I do that would remove the blockage?

“He called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by His workmanship in them.”

Thomas Watson

Inspiration:

“It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us.”

C. S. Lewis

For a moment put yourself within the crowd of witnesses at Lazarus’ grave. If things were to run normally, the throng expected that Jesus would “pay His respects” to the deceased and then return to the familiar home of His dearest friends. The disciple John even alludes to this scenario in John 11: 31, 34 – when Mary left her home, those with her “followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to pour out her grief there…And Jesus said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’”

However, to the complete surprise of everyone assembled including Mary and Martha, Jesus gave a command, “Take away the stone.” Make no mistake, Jesus had the power to speak and the stone would have moved if that was what He had chosen to do. But that isn’t what He wanted to do. We might ask, “Why not?” It is at this point that I find the thoughts of J. R. Macduff so helpful. As he explains, “Jesus said, ‘Take ye away the stone!’ Why this summoning in any feeble human agency when Jesus’ own independent (decree) could have effected the whole?...Might not He who has ‘the keys of the grave and of death’ have Himself unlocked the portals?”

The obvious answer is, “Yes!” But then the lessons which we can uncover from this event would most likely be lost. A Pastor Macduff asks, “What, then, does the Saviour teach His children?” What is it that you and I can gain as we witness the removal of the boulder? As Macduff points out, “Jesus alone could bring back Lazarus from his death-sleep. Martha and Mary could weep an ocean of tears, but they could not weep Lazarus back. They may linger for days and nights in that lonely graveyard, making it resound with their bitter dirges…Too well do they know the spark of life is extinguished beyond any earthly rekindling! But though the word of Omnipotence can alone bring back the dead, human hands and human efforts can roll away the stone.”

While Christ can “abolish” death and “give life,” we have our part to play, especially when we consider “spiritual life and death.” And this is a very important lesson for us to absorb in our daily walk with Jesus. As John Newton so beautifully expressed, our salvation is “wholly of grace, not only undeserved but undesired by us until God awakens us to a sense of our need of it. And then we find everything prepared that our wants require or our wishes conceive, yea, He has done exceedingly beyond what we could either ask or think. Our salvation is wholly of the Lord.” We can’t revive our dead selves. We have no power to rise up out of the pit of sin and death. Praise God we have a Saviour who has rescued us.

But, if I want to deepen my spiritual life, I need to be aware that if there are personal boulders that I’ve allowed to obstruct my relationship with Jesus – I need to do my part with the daily study of God’s Word and through prayer to keep the wide line open with Jesus.

As J.R. Macduff concludes, our salvation is “all of grace, from first to last – free, sovereign grace. We have no more merit in salvation than the beggar has merit in reaching forth his hand for alms…But neither must we ignore the great truth which God strives throughout His Word to impress upon us, that He works by means. Oh! let life be more than it ever has been to carefully remove every barrier between ourselves and Jesus.”

In 1905, Charles A. Tindley penned the words to the hymn, “Nothing Between” which I find appropriate for our lesson today – may we “keep the way clear! Let nothing between.”

P. S. Thank you so much for the gifts you send to Transformation Garden which continue to assist our ministry here in the United States and in 192 countries around the world. 100% of your donation goes directly to providing for our daily devotionals and gift bookmarks. Transformation Garden is a non-profit organization so your gift is tax-deductible and you will receive a receipt for any gift you send.

Many of you have asked how to send a gift to Transformation Garden. You can help support our work by giving a gift through Paypal or you can send your gift to: Transformation Garden, 2675 West SR89A, PMB 1121, Sedona, Arizona 86336. Thank you so much.

Also, if you should happen to miss a devotional for some reason, you can go to www.transformationgarden.com and you will find archived devotionals. We also place the daily devotionals on Facebook so you can find them on that site also.

My book, When A Woman Meets Jesus, is available wherever books are sold and on the internet at www.amazon.com and www.Christianbook.com or by calling toll-free, 1-800-Christian. Thank you so much for your support of Transformation Garden.

About Transformation Garden

Transformation Garden is a worldwide Christian ministry dedicated to encouraging and empowering women in their daily walk with Jesus. The devotional thoughts presented in Transformation Garden have their foundation in the Bible – the inspired word of God.